


You've Already Won Me Over, In Spite of Me

by Katybug1992



Series: Head Over Feet [2]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 2018-2019 NHL Season, Alpha Brady Tkachuk, Alpha Jonathan Toews, Alpha Matthew Tkachuk, Alpha Patrick Kane, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, And Cup celebration, Happy Ending, M/M, Omega Colton Parayko, Omega Robert Thomas, angst in the beginning, courting, omega jaden schwartz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:40:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21809065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992
Summary: Rob just wanted Jaden to be happy, so he issued a dare.Colton just wanted Jaden to be happy, so he encouraged the dare.And Jaden just wanted to not be lonely anymore.
Relationships: Colton Parayko & Jaden Schwartz & Robert Thomas, Colton Parayko/Jordan Binnington, Jonathan Toews/Jaden Schwartz/Patrick Kane, Matthew Tkachuk/Robert Thomas/Brady Tkachuk
Series: Head Over Feet [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567534
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	You've Already Won Me Over, In Spite of Me

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette

1)

Jaden and Brayden had chemistry.. They had always had chemistry. When Jaden first presented, Brayden was the first person who told him that he was still the same player he had always been. When Jaden got his first heat, Schenner was the first person he thought of, the person he shared several heats with before he was old enough to dictate his own Suppressant regimen.

He had been ecstatic when he found out that Schenner was coming to The Lou, going so far as to meet him at the airport. And it had been easy to fall back into old habits, which was fine until it wasn’t. A little over a year after he joined the team, Brayden had accidently bit hard enough to draw blood, right above where Jaden’s Claiming Mark would have been, just a little lower and he would have bonded Jaden. And that was something they both would have regretted.

The conversation that came after was hard and long, and eventually they settled on bonding being a terrible idea. While they meshed extremely well as people, mates were a completely different thing. Jaden was a lot, he resented and suppressed his Omega so much, and Brayden knew that he wouldn’t be able to handle that. But he could handle being Jaden’s friend, he could handle being his shoulder to lean on, he could handle helping with the occasional heat. But he would never be able to handle being Jaden’s mate. That would break both of them.

So that’s why Brayden was sitting there, watching Jaden look entirely unamused by the Alpha trying to pick him up. It never ceased to amuse Brayden. Jaden had this way of lulling them into a false sense of confidence before he shot them down. But Jaden was closer to his heat than he normally was when they went out and he had no patience for knothead Alphas. Much less the one in front of him.

The Alpha was saved from whatever scathing remark was on the tip of Jaden’s tongue when Rob bounced over and pulled Jaden away, chatting excitedly about something that had a small, fond, smile gracing Jaden’s face, erasing all the irritation from earlier. Brayden couldn’t help the little flutter that happened at that smile. Just because they had agreed it wasn’t a good idea didn’t mean any feelings were completely erased.

“I’m just saying,” Rob continued as he and Jaden sat down at the table, “next time you get a for real offer, you should say yes.”

“Rob -”

“He’s not exactly wrong, Jay.” Colton cut in, the only one at the table who knew what the hell the two of them were talking about.

Jaden shot a glare at Colton, “What do you expect me to do? Let some random Alpha Court me?”

“No.” Colton and Rob both replied, ignoring Steener’s horrified look at the thought of that, before Colton continued, “There’s nothing about the Courting Process that’s serious, not at the beginning.”

“I’m just saying,” Rob pushed on, “the next, serious - I mean, real serious, not I-Want-To-Hook-Up-With-You serious - you should say yes. In fact, I DARE you to say yes.”

“My God,” Jaden rolled his eyes, “you’re such a teenager.”

Jaden pushed himself away from the table, “I’m heading out.”

Brayden fought down the urge to tell Jaden to call him if he needed anything. He got out of that habit when Jaden had forced himself to stop calling, watching as Jaden was stopped by an objectively good looking Alpha as he paid his tab. Brayden waited for the rejection to come, but instead - with an almost sad look (only visible to those who knew him well) - Jaden nodded and left with him.

Colton shook his head and Rob stared after, looking devastated. They just wanted Jaden to be happy but the older Omega seemed incapable of wanting that for himself. Colton had thought, for a little while, that it would Schenner. But something happened and Jaden stopped smelling like the Alpha as often. Colton didn’t know all the details, but Jaden had insisted it was for the best. And Colton believed him, he really did, but he couldn’t help the pang in his chest whenever he saw Jaden accepting a random knothead to help him with his heat.

Jaden got back home around 7am the next day, in time to shower and get ready for practice. He tried not to think about how unsatisfied he felt, the restlessness still burning under his skin, and focused on how thankful he was that his suppressant regime kept his heats short, probably shorter than was healthy but that’s his choice. If he couldn’t stop them all together, then he would keep them to five to seven hours.

As he got out of the shower, his phone chirped with a text from Colton saying that he was picking him up and telling him that he would be joining Colton and Rob for lunch after practice. He sighed, not in the mood for that, but got dressed and walked outside as Colton pulled into the driveway.

He threw his bag in the back and got into the front seat.

“So,” Colton grinned over, “how was your night?”

“Shut up,” Jaden sighed, closing his eyes and resting his head on the window.

“That bad?” Colton raised his eyebrows as he backed out.

“Only concerned about himself.” Jaden replied.

“He feed you?”

“I fed myself, same with water,” Jaden shrugged, his suppressants keeping him from being completely out of it during heat, “Showed myself out this morning before he woke up.”

Colton didn’t press him anymore, knowing that Jaden needed to get into his hockey headspace. It never ceased to amaze him how different hockey Jaden was from this Jaden...well, the Jaden his fellow Omega usually was. Right now was not a good example. When he was heat tired, and frustrated, and depressed (even if he would never say he was).

Jaden could feel the looks in the locker room and throughout practice, he managed to avoid being cornered by the very concerned Petro and Steener, he side-stepped Jay Bo in the shower, and managed to get out of the locker room without having a Serious ConversationTM with Schenner and Vova. He threw his bag in the back and settled himself in the passenger seat of Colton’s car, thankful for the only time that the other Omega tended to forget to lock his car when they practiced at Enterprise Center. He let his eyes fall shut, only opening them briefly as Colton got in the car, before shutting them again.

When he opened them again Colton had just turned off the car and was nudging Jaden awake, “King and I or South City Diner?”

“King and I.” Jaden replied, pulling himself out of the car, “Where’s Rob?”

“He’s meeting us.”

They walked into the restaurant and were shown to a booth in the back corner of the building, Rob joining them shortly after and sliding in next to Jaden.

“Hi.” Rob chirped, grinning widely and earning a huff of laughter from him and the ghost of a smile.

“Talk to us, Jay.” Colton pressed as Jaden played with his straw after the waiter took their orders.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jaden fixed his gaze on the table.

“You know,” Rob nudged him, “whenever I have a problem you always make me talk about it.”

“And what we’ve learned from that is that you would be a terrible spy.”

“Jaden.” Colton gave him an unamused look, “Something’s wrong and it was obvious enough that Dunner picked up on it.”

“Season’s just going crappy.”

“That’s not it and you know it. Bo tried talking to you. He usually leaves those conversations to Steener and Petro. Schenner and Vova are just as lost as the rest of us and that’s not normal.”

Jaden looked up and then quickly looked away, jaw clenching and Colton pretended not to see the sudden wetness to his eyes.

“Jay,” Rob took his hand gently, carefully, “we’re worried about you.”

“Shouldn’t be.”

“But we are,” Colton pressed, “And I know you don’t like showing weakness, but you’re with us. And we understand. Better than anyone, yeah?”

“I’m just...so tired.” Jaden sighed eventually, “Tired of being unsatisfied, of being disappointed…. Of being so fucking alone all time.”

Colton watched as Jaden, the strongest person he knew, struggled to keep it together. Watched as he looked so utterly defeated.

“I’m just so sick of asshole Alphas, you know?” Jaden looked up, “And heats suck but they suck more when you think you have someone to help you but turns out they don’t live up to your very low expectations of just getting off. And Brayden was great. He was a fantastic heat partner but we…. we had a close call and…. We had to stop. And I just…”

They let Jaden trail off, knowing when to stop pushing and they spent the rest of lunch distracting Jaden from himself.

They only returned to the subject when they got back to Colton’s car. Rob scented Jaden and pulled back, looking him in the eye and saying, “I have a challenge for you. I was serious last night. The next FOR REAL offer you get, say yes. The beginning of the Courting process is easy and it’s all up to your Omega anyway. Just… try it out. See what happens.”

“He’s got a point, Jay.” Colton voiced carefully, “Just...think about it. Okay?”

Jaden nodded, agreeing mostly due to Rob pouting at him.

And that’s why Jaden was leaning against his kitchen island, going over an agreement that had been sent over, worked out carefully by his agent and the agents of the two Alphas who had requested to Court him. His agent, Army, and Yeo all approved of it, thought it was a pretty good initial agreement, bode well for the eventual contract he and the Alphas would have to sign (contracts only being required in the NHL if the Alpha and Omega played on different sports teams, made it more fair for the Omega).

He contemplated calling, or at least, texting Seguin. They had been in the same draft class and were the only two out Omegas in their class. When Segs had gotten traded to Dallas, the Stars organization had strongly urged a courtship with Benn. He had helped Tyler through all the thoughts and emotions about that and Tyler was bonded to Benn and was happier than Jaden had ever seen him, certainly happier than he had been in Boston. And Jaden needed some of that happy right now.

He sighed and poured himself another cup of coffee, his very empty house a stark reminder of why he had said yes in the first place. Sure, they were in a different city but maybe he would feel less alone. Taking a sip, he looked over it again. There was no heat/rut requirements, there weren’t any restrictions on what he was allowed to eat or drink, no restrictions on what kind of suppressants he took, no expectation of kids anytime soon. What there was was a promise. A promise to be faithful to him. A promise to respect him and go at his pace. A promise to protect him when word got out and the media started fussing. A promise to never exercise their control over him without his express consent.

And that was all it really took to get him to sign it. And he hated that that was how low the bar was set that low.

After that, they had regular phone calls so they could get to know him and so that they wouldn’t be complete strangers to him. And it’s not like it was their first interactions off the ice. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane had been lowkey obsessed with him since he started in the League. Jaden lost count of how often they tried to get him to go home with them. Lost count of how many times he had retaliated against them for their behavior during a game, lucky to have had very few penalties called on him because of those instances.

“Come on,” Joel prompted, almost whining and nudging Jaden as they headed toward their cars after practice, “Come out with us tonight.”

“I can’t.” Jaden rolled his eyes, “I have plans.”

“Oooo!” Joel’s eyes absolutely lit up, “With who?”

“Colt and Rob are coming over for dinner.” Jaden rolled his eyes. Eddy was a child.

“I wanna come!” Joel whined, draping himself over Jaden’s back.

“Nope.” Jaden elbowed him off. Turning around, he took in Eddy’s pout and sighed, “I’ll go out with you next time.”

“Fine.” Joel sighed, because he melodramatic, and said, “I’m holding you to that!”

“Goodbye, Edds.” Jaden rolled his eyes.

“Bring me leftovers!”

Colton and Rob came over around four and the three of them worked effortlessly together to make dinner. Country music playing softly as they worked; Rob on pasta duty (his father’s culinary skills definitely had not been passed down to him), Colton carefully following Jaden’s recipe as he worked on the sauce, and Jaden worked on cooking the chicken and asparagus. 

“So,” Jaden carefully did not look up from cutting the chicken, “I took your advice.”

“What advice?” Rob asked, slightly worried. He gave out a lot of random “advice” and he was slightly worried about which bit the older Omega had taken.

“My agent called a couple weeks ago...with a serious Courting request.”

“Oh my God!” Rob’s eyes lit up and Colton took the sauce and noddles off of the heat before looking over at Jaden.

“You gonna tell us who?” Colton prompted, “Obviously no one on our team since your agent was involved.”

Jaden took a minute to respond before saying, “Toews and Kane.”

“Aw!” Rob’s grin grew. It wasn’t exactly a secret that the two Alphas had been pining after Jaden.

“Really?” Colton raised an eyebrow.

“It’s like you guys said, nothing’s concrete at the start of the process.” Jaden shrugged, “And the Agreement they sent over…. It bodes well for an eventual Contract, if we bond.”

“How’s it going so far?” Colton slapped a hand over Rob’s mouth, knowing he needed to be the one to navigate this part of the conversation so that Rob’s over-excitement kept Jaden from completely opening up.

“It’s going.” Jaden shrugged, “We’ve talked more than a few times, either over the phone or FaceTime, we text… well, they text me and I respond.... We’re meeting halfway next week so they can present me with the first Courting gifts. They each want to give one, rather than doing a joint gift.”

“How do you like them so far?”

“They’re just as cocky and annoying as ever.”

“They’re Alphas trying to impress the Omega they’re into.” Rob finally managed to get Colton’s hand off his face, “It’s their instinct. You should have seen Matty and Brady when they first started Courting me. They’ll calm down after a while.”

“At this point, I’m just hoping for something subtle.” Jaden huffed, sparing only a glance at the simple yet obvious diamond on Rob’s finger, the matching pendant hanging on a thicker chain around Rob’s neck than the delicate design was probably designed for, “But I have a feeling it won’t be. Toews was saying that word had gotten out that I had started considering Agreements and there was chatter.”

“Dude, they’re gonna make it obvious then.” Colton snorted, “At least obvious enough that any interested parties will realize what’s happening.”

Jaden knew he was right, but he could hope that there was a slim chance that they wouldn’t go overboard.

That next Saturday, Jaden climbed into his car and drove the three hours to some little town in Illinois that was halfway between Chicago and St. Louis to meet his two potential Alphas. He’d be lying to himself if he said that he had never been tempted by them. They were attractive and they had qualities that certainly appealed to his Omega, had appealed to his Omega for a long time. He knew it wasn’t the “superstar” thing. Vova certainly fit in that category and his Omega had never once wanted him. He thought briefly that it may have been an “older superstar” thing, but he had never been drawn to Ovi, or Jagr, or the others he had played against. He had been drawn to Crosby and regretted it immediately after he snuck back to hotel, extremely disappointed and not at all satisfied. It had almost been enough to make him stop by a bar to pick up a random Alpha, just to take the edge off, but he had decided against it and had let Vova coddle him the entire next day as his exhaustion took its toll.

He tried running through plays in his head, turning up the music as loud as he was comfortable with, anything he could think of to keep himself from focusing on his nerves. He contemplated calling it off, turning around, and holing up at Vova’s, letting the kids distract him and Vladi take care of him until this feeling passed. But he was only an hour away from his destination.

He took a deep breath to try to calm himself as he took the exit to McLean and headed toward the Sugar Grove Nature Center. Pulling into the parking lot, he slowly eased his grip on the steering wheel. He could do this. He just had to get through the next few hours. He tried to ignore his Omega’s excitement, it was just making the nerves worse.

He pulled into a parking spot, purposefully not taking any of the free spots directly around the spot the Alphas had parked in and pushed away the thought that came across his brain saying that they were quite handsome and that bode well for any pups. He huffed in annoyance at his Omega. It was far too soon to be thinking about pups. Way too soon.

“Jaden,” Kane grinned happily as the Omega approached them, “how was the drive?”

“It was fine.” Jaden shrugged, “Little boring.”

Both Alphas chuckled at that. The drive between their two cities, for the most part, wasn’t very interesting.

“Come on,” Toews offered a hand to Jaden, “We brought a picnic lunch for you.”

Jaden bit back his response and took the offered hand, looking down to hide the blush that appeared at Toews’ look of delight that his offer had been accepted, and let the Alphas lead him to their picnic spot. Kane happily swinging an actual, wicker, picnic basket as he lead the way.

“We got here, like, 30 minutes early so we could ask where the best spot would be. Usually they like picnics to occur at the shelters but the lady we spoke to was a fan, absolutely delighted that we wanted to do something special for our Omega and told us about this spot on the river.” Kane was chattering lightly on his other side, “She said that as long as we leave nothing behind when we leave, we could use it. It’s not too far from here.”

Jaden’s nerves lessened as they walked, something he knew both Alphas were picking up on, but his guard remained firmly in place, he refused to let his Omega take over the situation. Not yet. He almost laughed when Kane let out a yelp of excitement when he found the spot. And it was beautiful. The fall colors of the leaves reflected beautifully on the water and he pulled out his phone to snap a picture, an intentionally artsy picture, making a mental note to send it to Jay Bo later as the veteran had a love for arty nature pictures.

When he looked back down there was an honest-to-God red and white checkered picnic blanket spread out and an array of different food, some fitting the nutritionist approved category and others definitely not. He let himself be guided to the blanket and the Alphas settled down on either side of him.

“So, it’s not exactly a hot meal because, you know, it’s a drive and the food would have been cold anyway.” Toews gestured to the food, “But we still wanted you to have options.”

“You didn’t need to.” Jaden shook his head, “I would have been happy with something simple.”

“You would have been but your Omega might not have been,” Toews responded, “and we’re trying to impress both of you.”

“You have your work cut out for you then,” Jaden avoided looking at either Alpha, “my Omega and I don’t always see eye-to-eye.”

“We know.” Kane sent him a soft smile, “That’s part of what drew us to you.”

“Part?” Jaden gave him a confused look, “What’s the other part?”.

“Have you seen yourself?” Toews gave him a once-over, this one more joking than the highly suggestive one Jaden usually got from the pair.

Jaden was shocked when he felt a blush rather than felt the usually annoyance and anger that words and looks like that usually brought about. And, from the pleased looks on the Alphas’ faces, they caught the change as well, but they surprised him by not getting cocky about it like they normally would have. Jaden guessed it had to do with the instincts and testerone increases that games brought out being absent. 

Late morning faded into afternoon and the three of them sat in their spot. Jaden was surprised at how easily conversation flowed. They had made an agreement at the beginning of this that hockey wouldn’t be brought up, so they talked about their families, their cities, funny locker room and night out shenanigans. And Jaden felt himself fully relax and enjoying their company. He only stiffened momentarily when Kane...Patrick reached into the basket and pulled out two boxes, handing the one on top to To...Jonathan.

“So, you know how I asked if you had any, like, superstitions with your game day suit?” Patrick asked, waiting until Jaden nodded, “So, when you said no, I figured this would be a good idea.”

Jaden took the box that was held out to him and opened it, revealing a Blackhawks Home Jersey Red tie and a pair of gold cufflinks with sapphires set into them.

“Thank you,” Jaden inclined his head briefly, “I’ll make sure to wear them as often as I can.”

Patrick grinned brightly in response and Jaden felt himself blush again.

“I know you’ll have to take it off during games, and it’s not crazy flashy so there shouldn’t be any attention drawn to it, unless you want there to be, but it’ll still send a clear message,” Jonathan handed him the box he was holding, long and slender, the name of a high-end jeweler stamped in gold on the outside.

Jaden was expecting a necklace but was surprised to find a bracelet, gold with a thin bar and chain, each end of the bar had a ruby and a slightly larger sapphire sat in the middle. He soundlessly held his hand out and gestured for Jonathan to put it on for him before he traced a finger over it. It was understated but perfect and he felt a wave of an emotion he really did not want to identify wash over him, almost knocking him over.

“Thank you.” Jaden voice was thick, “It’s...it’s perfect. Both of the gifts are. Thank you.”

Jonathan looked extremely relieved when Jaden could finally lift his gaze from the bracelet.

“It has a really easy clasp, so you shouldn’t need any help with it.” Jonathan replied, stomping down the jealousy he felt at just the idea of another Alpha assisting Jaden.

“Thank you,” Jaden smiled, “Really.”

“What’s wrong?” Patrick asked, instinct telling him that there something wrong with the Omega.

“It’s nothing you guys did,” Jaden replied, “It’s just… Mandi would have loved this. She always commented on how my Alpha would have his hands full with me. When I got older, she got more insufferable about it, especially when it became clear that I was going to be ‘too much for just one Alpha’ according to her. She would have a field day at these, full of I-Told-You-Sos and questions that I definitely wouldn’t want to answer. She always told me that my dynamic didn’t make me who I was. That it added to who I was already. When she died…. I upped my suppressants, tried to shut down any and all instincts to do something, to feel something… I started feeling ashamed when I let my Omega take over, to guide my choices… it feels like I’m letting her down somehow...like I’m choosing the wrong thing. But not following them would also disappoint her. And it’s just… a lot.”

The two Alphas were silent for a moment before Jonathan asked, “Can I touch you?”

He waited until the Omega nodded before pulling Jaden closer to him and hugging him tightly, “Have you talked to anyone about this?”

Jaden just shook his head. He had been keeping it all in for so long, keeping all the pain and anger and fucking loneliness inside since Mandi passed and it all came out in a flood as he broke down in Jonathan’s arms. He pressed his face into Jonathan’s neck and Patrick joined the hug, hooking his chin over Jaden’s shoulder, both of them offering their strength to the Omega.

“It hurts so much.” Jaden choked out, “There’s so much I want to talk to her about.”

Jonathan and Patrick shared a quick look before going back to comforting Jaden. This wasn’t what they expected, it wasn’t even a thought of what might happen, but their Alphas purred as they showed that they could support the Omega emotionally - could just feel Jaden’s Omega brush against them and knew he could feel their Alphas. 

“Sorry,” Jaden spoke when finally pulled away, “I didn’t expect that to happen.”

“It’s okay.” Patrick hesitantly nuzzled Jaden’s neck, preening when the action was accepted.

“When we asked to Court you, we asked to Court all of you.” Jonathan smiled softly, nuzzling the other side of Jaden’s neck, “Even the pieces of you that you would rather stay hidden.”

Jaden blinked furiously to clear his vision and returned the nuzzles, his Omega feeling more content than he could remember it being since he lost Mandi.

He searched for what to say, his mouth settling on “Thank you” without his consent. 

“You never need to thank us for being there for you.” Jonathan’s voice was full of conviction as his dark eyes searched Jaden’s face for any sign of distress.

“I just...I don’t open up easily. I’m difficult and I keep my cards close to my chest.” Jaden had to look away, “I keep my feelings pretty tightly underwraps.”

“And we’ll respect that,” Patrick replied, “but just know that you can talk to us and we will always listen.”

“I won’t make any promises, but I will say that I’ll try.”

“We’ll take it.” 

Jaden caught the time on Jonathan’s watch and went to stand up, “I should head back. I have early skate tomorrow.”

“Are you okay to drive?” Jonathan asked, helping Jaden stand up, “We can grab you a motel room in town for the night if you need it.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” Jaden gave a small smile.

The three packed up, Jaden ignoring the Alphas telling him he didn’t have to help, before heading back to the cars.

Jaden brushed his lips against theirs before turning and walking away, not able to help but smirk when he felt them watching him and he quickly pushed down the thoughts that popped up saying that this could work.

The gifts came in after that, usually one a week from each of them (if it was a bigger item, or more expensive, it was from both of them). Most of the time it was simple items, books, bubble bath set, dinner delivered, an item with their scents on it. Jaden had returned that favor, sending each of them a shirt every other week or so.

Their talks got longer and, at certain points, steamier. When they had an overlapping night off, they would have dinner together via skype, which eventually graduated into participating in other activities via skype.

So Jaden was not surprised when he opened up the newest box to find a rather large knot dildo. He was pissed, but not surprised.

“What the hell is this?” Jaden demanded the minute Jonathan answered the phone.

“What is what?” Jonathan asked, having woken up a short while ago and playing a later game in California.

“You know what.” Jaden’s eyes narrowed at the box and steadfastly ignoring how his stomach fluttered at the gravelly voice the Alpha had in the mornings.

“Oh!” Jonathan replied, his eyes suddenly lighting, “You got our gift.”

“Why else would I be calling you this early?” Jaden demanded, very much aware of what time it was in California.

Jonathan must have added Patrick to the call because the shorter Alpha’s voice came over the line, “What other way can we demonstrate that we can support you sexually? There’s only so much we can do over Skype and FaceTime.”

Jaden felt his face go bright red at that.

“Our flight gets in at six tonight.” Jonathan’s voice took a slightly darker tone, one that Jaden had learned affected him greatly (in an extremely good way), “Does seven sound good for a Skype date?”

“We’ll see.” Jaden replied before hanging up. He knew that they knew he would answer the call but he didn’t need to give them the satisfaction of actually agreeing out loud. No. They already had big enough heads as it was. He did not like doing anything to inflate their Alpha Egos.

He glared down at the package, seriously considering burning it and sending a video to them. That would wipe the smug looks off their faces. He settled on sending a string of venting texts to Colton and Rob, both of who got way too much enjoyment out of it. And all that did nothing to stop him from thinking about what his Alphas had in mind for him that night….and he breezed right over the fact that he had mentally referred to them as “his Alphas” and vowed to forget that that ever happened. It was too early. 

2)

To say Jaden was agitated was an understatement. He had an almost full out fight with Vova and Schenner before leaving the hotel (they were worried about Jaden being out in an unfamiliar city while so close to his heat, like just the slightest nudge and he would be there), Eddy had picked this douchey bar for them to celebrate their win at (the only upside was that the music was not terrible), and his heat was thrumming just under his skin (and he knew it was the same for Colton and Robby). So he was hovering next to them and more alert than he would normally be. He felt like he was waiting for something. 

And that something walked into the bar shortly after Rob pulled him into the conversation with Colton, something about Brady being an idiot. Jaden felt bad he wasn’t paying attention but his eyes were focused on the two Alphas making their way to the bar. Rob trailed off as he and Colton followed Jaden’s gaze, giggling as Colton grinned.

“Go get ‘em.” Colton smirked, “Make ‘em feel a little better after humiliating them on the ice today.”

Jaden gave him an unimpressed look but rounded the table and headed to the bar.

“Hey, stranger.” Jaden greeted, leaning against the bar next to Patrick.

“Well, what a surprise running into you like this.” Patrick grinned back as Jonathan attempted a surprised expression.

“You’re terrible actors.” Jaden rolled his eyes playfully, “On top of being stalkers.”

“Just wanted to spend some time with you.” Jonathan approached him, crowded the Omega against the bar and smirking at Jaden’s scent, spiked with excitement.

“Dance with us?” Patrick asked, crowding in on Jaden’s side, nuzzling his neck and inhaling Jaden’s scent, moaning quietly at the spicy twing to it that could only mean one thing.

Jaden nodded and let himself be led to the dancefloor, eyes widening and gasping as he was pulled flush against Jonathan with Patrick plastered right behind him.

“Can’t let anyone get any ideas about you being available,” Jonathan smirked down at him, “Not with how good you smell.”

Jaden felt a shudder go down his spine before he grabbed Jonathan’s head and pulled him down to kiss him, only slightly embarrassed by how quickly he surrendered control and letting out a whimper as he felt Patrick’s lips and teeth start to trail along his neck. 

He could feel his team’s eyes on him and he broke the kiss just long enough to glance over at them before he reached back and connected his lips with Patrick’s. He didn’t need Vladi and Brayden to act as his Alphas. He had these two and they were more than enough Alpha for him. He only came up for air when he felt Jonathan mouthing at the spot where his neck met his shoulder, snapping at him to watch it, only to get a teasing smirk in return.

After a little while longer, his Alphas could smell his heat getting closer, probably hitting fully within an hour.

“You should get you back to your hotel.” Jonathan suggested, “Don’t want you out here when it hits.”

“You should join me.” Jaden replied, lacing his fingers with the hand Patrick had on his hip and bringing his other hand up to Jonathan’s hair.

“Are you sure?” Jonathan breathed out, searching Jaden’s face for any hint of regret.

“Yes.” Jaden nodded, breaking away from the two of them to grab his coat before they met him at the door.

They got back to Jaden’s room and the Omega immediately dragged Jonathan down, losing himself in the Alpha’s kiss as he was pushed against the wall.

“I want -” Jaden cut himself off, eyes slipping closed as he tried to gather his thoughts and catch his breath, pleased as both Alphas stayed close to him.

“What do you want?” Patrick trailed a finger down Jaden’s arm, a gesture that gave him something to focus on and helped to keep him grounded.

“Anything,” Jonathan insisted, “Anything you want, we’ll give you.”

“I want to let go.” Jaden looked up at them, eyes wide.

“Are you sure?” Jonathan questioned, concern filling his eyes. Glancing at Patrick, he saw the same look reflected back. Jaden had told them about the last time he was able to complete let go during heat and it wasn’t the best experience. The Alpha had been sloppy when getting him down and then had only cared for his own needs, leaving Jaden to come back up alone, sore, and terrified. 

“I trust you.” Jaden responded softly.

“You don’t know how much that means to us, baby.” Patrick grinned, nuzzling Jaden before kissing him gently. 

“You gonna be good for us?” Jonathan asked, his voice soft and gentle as he let his Alpha pheromones run a little wild, “Gonna be a good Omega for your Alphas?”

Jaden’s eyes barely cracked open as he nodded, moaning as Patrick’s pheromones joined Jonathan’s, and he felt his heat fully hit and just let himself go, let himself trust these Alphas to know what he needed and how to take care of him best.

When he came back up, he was wrapped in the thick duvet, feeling completely satisfied, content, and safe - his head on Jonathan’s chest and Patrick plastered to his back. He smiled to himself when he noticed that they had obviously cleaned him up at some point and made sure he ate and drank, if the granola bar wrappers and water bottles were anything to by.

“Why are you awake right now?” Jonathan’s sleepy rumble drew Jaden’s attention to him and Patrick’s arms tightened around his waist as the smaller Alpha attempted to pull him closer.

“Don’t even think about thanking us.” Patrick mumbled into Jaden’s shoulder.

“You’re our Omega.” Jonathan added, “It’s our job to keep you happy and satisfied.”

Jaden bit his tongue, biting back the almost automatic response to that he had - which was that he wasn’t theirs yet. He hadn’t formally accepted. He knew they knew that. He knew what he wanted to do. And he’s pretty sure they knew, too. He wouldn’t have asked them to share his heat with him if he wasn’t going to accept, nor would he have danced with them in front of his teammates the way he did. But they were letting him decide the timeline.

Remembering the scene they had made at the bar, his eyes snapped open and he shot up, groaning softly at the slight pain he felt with the movement.

“What’s wrong?” Jonathan finally opened his eyes at the feeling of the Omega’s head shooting off his chest.

“Come back.” Patrick whined, refusing to open his own eyes.

“I hadn’t told the guys.” Jaden muttered, “I hadn’t told the guys I was even being Courted, let alone who… And they saw…. I didn’t tell Schenner and Vova…..I meant to, but with how crappy everything’s been going…”

“Hey,” Jonathan quickly cut him off, cupping his chin and forcing him to look at them, “we understand. We haven’t exactly told our team yet.”

Jaden smiled and seemed to relax at that until he caught a glimpse at the time. He kissed both of them and quickly got out of the bed, “I need to shower and get ready. Team breakfast is in twenty minutes and then we’re heading out.”

“Text us when you land.” Patrick instructed, kissing Jaden one more time before the Omega disappeared into the bathroom.

“Shut up.” Jonathan elbowed the other Alpha at the sight of the smug look on his face.

It was only when Jaden was dressed and heading downstairs that the usual exhaustion his heat brought him caught up to him. He was too tired to even be angry about the state of his neck, the Alphas leaving very visible, very obvious, marks just close enough to where his Claim Marks would go. He slumped down into one of the open tables, wondering briefly how the fuck he was the first one down there, before being joined almost immediately by his linemates.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys.” Jaden said as they each sat on either side of him in the booth, happily accepting the coffee Vova set in front of him.

“We’ve all been a little distracted,” Schenner replied, “Otherwise we would have noticed.”

“Still. It was a crappy way for you guys to find out. And then I just...rubbed it in your faces for no reason other than pettiness.”

“Schwartzy, we should be apologizing to you.” Vova cut him off, “We’ve been acting like we’re your Alphas. And that wouldn’t be okay normally, but it’s even less okay now that you have your Alphas.”

“We’re not…. we’re just in the Courting process, you know? It’s nothing…. nothing’s been decided yet.”

“That doesn’t mean that we can act that way.” Brayden cut in, “And we never should have in the first place. I mean… you’re Vova’s pack so he has an excuse, I don’t.”

“Bray, you and me… we…”

“Yeah, but I’m not meant to be your Alpha. You’re my best friend, and I love you, but our Alpha and Omega never meshed. So, I’m content to be your friend, your personal pillow, and I will support you in whatever you decide to do.”

“Aleksandr won’t be happy.” Vova grinned over at Jaden, his son’s Alpha had a bit of a crush on Jaden - a consequence of Jaden being the only Omega in the Tarasenko kids’ lives, “But you need to do what is best for you. And you should do what makes you happy. And I won’t pretend to understand it, but I will support you.”

“I still should have told you. You didn’t deserve to be blindsided that way. None of the team did… except maybe Eddy.”

“And they will support you as well.” Schenner bumped his shoulder playfully

“Even Steener?”

“You? Yes.” Vova smiled, “But never Toews and Kane.”

Jaden laughed brightly at that, leaning against Vova and letting his eyes slip shut, mumbling out another apology. 

3)

Sure in recent years, games against Dallas had gotten chippier, more physical. But Jaden never expected Jamie Benn to let any player on his team think it was okay to use their Voice to push another player into their Omega-Space. He was up as soon as he saw what was happening, Otter rushing behind the bench to grab him as their head trainer rushed over to Rob.

“See if he can come back up before you go out there.” Steve muttered, thankful that Vladi joined him holding Jaden there.

Jaden chanced a glance over at Seguin, who was being held back by Benn and yelling at the Stars coach and the AHLer who had gotten the call up and thought that was a way to make his mark. The AHLer who was going to become a lifer if Tyler had any say in it.

It felt like forever until he was called out, catching Colton’s relieved look, leaving his equipment on the bench as he jumped over the bench. He knew the larger Omega had never been forced under, didn’t know Rob what was experiencing right now. And neither did Rob, with his size and the scent blockers required in Juniors, every one always assumed he was a Beta. Unfortunately, Jaden had always looked like an Omega. He knew what it was like to be forced down during a game, to have that weakness exposed. He had strengthened himself against that. Rob had never needed to.

Kneeling down, he could see Rob shaking, breaths coming a little too quickly, and curled in on himself. Jaden bent down, slowly taking Rob’s helmet off and handing it to Colton, who had come to stand behind him. Slowly, carefully, he held his wrist out for Rob to catch the scent. He muttered assurances and ran his free hand through Rob’s hair for another thirty seconds until his breathing returned to normal and he started uncurling. That’s when Jaden pulled him up and Rob stuck his face into Jaden’s neck, letting the older Omega’s words wash over him. 

It felt like forever until Rob gently head-butted Jaden and muttered that he was good, both of them standing up and heading back to the bench. Jaden smiled when Rob insisted he was fine to keep playing.

“Chief!” Jaden gestured to the ice and smirking when he got a nod in response.

“Defending your pup?” Vladi asked with a smirk.

“Something like that.” Jaden replied with his own smirk, taking in every detail of the Alpha who put Rob under.

Jaden felt like he was overreacting, one eye on Rob the rest of the game, hyper aware of the younger Omega. It was purely because he had been put down, not because Rob was his pup...shut up Eddy, it definitely was not because Rob was his pup. He spent most of the bus ride to the hotel and walk to his room trying to convince Petro that he was fine and that he had everything under control.

When he got to the room, Rob was already flopped on the bed and subconsciously rolling his scent into it.

“Tell your Alphas you’re okay.” Jaden instructed grabbing his toothbrush and change of clothes, pulling his own phone out to text Walt before debating with himself about calling one of his Alphas.

Patrick settled that as his phone rang.

“Hey,” he answered, keeping his voice soft.

“How are you?” Patrick asked, voice full of concern.

“Didn’t happen to me.” Jaden shrugged.

“But it has before.” 

“Not for a long time.”

“Still.”

“I’m pissed that it happened, but Seggs took care of in the Stars room. And the League knows it’s not a good look to not discipline after something like that. He’ll have a hearing, get a suspension or fine, and then spend the rest of his career in the American League. Tyler’s not going to play on the same team as him.”

“You talked to Seguin?”

“We text.” Jaden shrugged, “We were the only two out Omegas in our Draft class. It helped to have someone who was going through it all that understood. There’s so much more pressure to prove yourself when your dynamic is known, especially if you’re an Omega. Anyway, between the two of us we’ll figure out what the next step should be. I’ll probably have a meeting with Coach and Army when we get back in town.”

“But right now?”

“Right now I’m going to watch whatever Rob wants to watch and not let him out of my sight for the rest of the night. The effects tend to linger. He was able to finish the game but he hasn’t complete shook himself out of it.”

“Let me know when you land tomorrow morning.”

“I will.” Jaden found himself smiling softly, “I have to go. Rob and Colton made a nest.”

“Don’t pretend you’re not excited about that.”

“Bye, Patrick, I’ll text you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Jaden.”

Jaden quickly finished changing and walked back into the room, sighing when he noticed that Colton and Rob left the middle spot open for him.

“Why?”

“Because you’re small.”

Jaden glared at Colton but climbed into the nest and allowed himself to be maneuvered however they saw fit. Instead he accepted his laptop from Colton and put on Keeping Up With the Kardashians because Rob wanted trashy tv.

4)

They fucking won and the first thing Jaden wanted to do after hugging his teammates and lifting the Cup was to call Jonathan and Patrick. He managed to hold off calling them until he was home, at two in the fucking morning, but somehow wasn’t surprised when they answered, Jonathan first and then Patrick.

“I accept.” Jaden rushed to get out, “I accept your gifts as proof that you can support me and that you’re more than suitable Alphas.”

“Are you sure?” Jonathan asked carefully, praying this wasn’t a Cup High.

“Yeah,” Jaden replied, “I’ve been sure for a while.”

“Thank God!” Patrick sighed, grinning so hard that he was sure Jaden could feel it across the phone.

“I’m gonna go pick Kaner up and we’ll come down there.” Jonathan replied, already up and pulling a duffle out of his closet.

“You don’t have to come down tonight.” Jaden urged.

“Yes, we do.” Jonathan argued, “Wanna spend as much as possible with you before training camp.

“Wanna congratulate you on your win.” Patrick tagged on, “It’ll be much more rewarding in person.”

Jaden felt himself blush but conceded, knowing he should get a little bit of sleep before they got there.

To say the they didn’t leave his bed after his Alphas arrived would not be an overstatement. It had been a struggle to untangle himself from them so that he could drag himself to the shower. Rob had texted him multiple times begging him to come out with them that night and that he could amuse himself by watching Binner fight trip over himself in regards to Colton.

“You know,” Jaden chanced a glance at them as he got dressed, “you could come with, if you want to. You don’t have to, but…”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Jonathan picked his words carefully, not wanting to upset Jaden, “The whole city is going to have its eyes on you for awhile, but especially tonight. It’s a lot easier to hide and get lost in a crowd in Chicago than it will be here, with the whole city losing its mind.”

“I understand.” Jade gave them a genuine smile, “And I promise I won’t be gone long. Lord knows Colt or Rob told them I accepted. I gotta check on Steener and Pear. They’re probably taking the news a little worse.”

“Well, you were Steen’s rookie.” Patrick laughed as Jaden’s face took a fond expression.

“Yeah…” Jaden’s voice was fond, “He’s still getting used to me actively seeing someone. The fact that it’s the two of you just makes it slightly harder for him.”

“Go have fun.” Jonathan nudged him toward the door after both he and Patrick scented him thoroughly.

“I’ll try not to be back too late.” Jaden replied, “Help yourself to anything in the kitchen or there are take out menus are in the basket on the fridge.”

He got to the bar and was greeted by, before all else, an extremely happy yelp from Rob and an ecstatic call of his name from Colton, who was leaving a pouting Binner out on the dancefloor as he made his way over.

“You came!” Colton’s blue eyes were sparkling as he grabbed Jaden’s arm and pulled him toward the tables the guys had claimed.

“How many drinks have you had?” Jaden laughed as he was deposited at Steener’s side.

“How many hours did you stay in bed today?” Colton replied with a smirk, accepting the drink Jordan deposited in front of him with a wide grin.

“So….?” Rob prompted.

“I accepted.” Jaden smiled down at the table.

He almost laughed at Steener’s grumbling and let the congratulations roll over him. Looking up, he met Brayden’s eyes. He didn’t know what he was expecting to see, but after sharing a look mourning lost chances, Schenner’s face split in two and he grabbed Jaden into a tight hug, whispering, “Congrats. They better know how lucky they are.”

Jaden smiled up at him and ducked in for a quick nuzzle before pulling back.

“Thank you.” he whispered.

Brayden responded by bumping his head against Jaden’s forehead, “I’m proud of you, kid.”

Jaden just rolled his eyes and they let themselves be pulling into a conversation with Steener once the veteran was done muttering about dumb Chicago Alphas.

Rob bounced passed him and pulled him onto the dancefloor, telling him excitedly that Walt had lifted the curfew for the week and that Matty and Brady got them a hotel room. He was blushing as he said it so Jaden didn’t chirp him. He knew that type of blush, knew that tone of voice. Knew that Rob was excited about the room because it meant that he could spend time with his Alphas without worrying about interruptions, without a reminder for the boys to go up to their own rooms when it got late.

“Got any plans?” Jaden smirked.

“I may have packed the rings in my bag.” Rob’s blush darkened.

“Shit.” Jaden’s eyes widened, “So you’ve talked about it.”

“Yep.”

“They talk to Walt about it?”

“I don’t know.”

“So, probably not, then.”

“Probably.”

The two Omegas shared a laugh before glancing over to see Colton and Binner at the bar. 

“Fucking finally!” Jaden rolled his eyes, pulling Rob back over to the tables as Colton and Jordan moved in that same direction, taking a sick sort of pleasure when Jordan didn’t meet his eyes. 

He felt like a proud parent as he watched Colton lead Jordan out of the bar and he quickly tried to shake that thought from his head. He was not Team Mom, no matter how many times Eddy called him “mama” and regardless of how protective he got of Rob.

The next morning, Binner called him in a near panic about how to go about Courting Colton while he was getting the last bit of food made that would be going to Petro’s with him. He did his best to attempt to calm the goal down, impressing himself with only getting a little distracted by Jonathan entering the kitchen in just his briefs. He was doing a great fucking job finishing his task and paying attention to Binner until Jonathan decided to plaster himself to Jaden’s back and placing his hands on Jaden’s hips, nosing at his neck. 

The call ended shortly after that and Jaden allowed himself to be pulled upstairs again, resigning himself to just being late and putting up with the chirping that was inevitable.

Turns out, Robby did get fucking bonded the night before and that took all the attention off of Jaden and the possessive marks let by his Alphas.

Off-Season was shorter than usual for him. The three of them had decided that, in order for them to spend as much time together as possible, they would rotate training routines and just do their training together. The Alphas went with him on his Day with the Cup and then whisked him off to a secluded cabin in the woods for a week.

Summer was going great, only hitting a slight hiccup when Jonathan opened his mouth and said there wasn’t any part of him that was happy the Blues won the Cup. Patrick and Jaden had been watching the interview together and Patrick immediately felt the mood shift in the room and Jaden’s phone immediately started lighting up with notifications from the Blues group chat.

Patrick was expecting anger, disappointment, what he was not expecting was for Jaden to swing himself into Patrick’s lap and kiss him, grinding filthily down on his lap. And Patrick was in no way complaining, returning the kiss and gripping Jaden’s hips tightly. What he was not expecting was Jaden’s particular style of vindictiveness and revenge. When Jonathan entered the room thirty minutes later, Jaden pulled back and told him in no uncertain terms that he would only be watching until the time Jaden decided otherwise. 

Jonathan liked control. He and Patrick may both be Alphas but the Alpha of their little pack was Jonathan. And Jonathan’s Alpha knew he had hurt Jaden and prevented Jonathan from acting on his urge to get Jaden to submit to him. His Alpha kept him seated in the armchair in the window, facing the bed, watching as Jaden rode Patrick into oblivion. It was that way for three days, Jonathan only being able to watch as Jaden kissed Patrick, blew Patrick, let Patrick fuck him.

Finally his Alpha sensed that Jaden had forgiven him (he had apologized several times for not thinking before speaking but his Omega was difficult and damn proud and protective of his team) and Jaden kissed him light after he apologized one more time.

“Just..watch your words next time.” Jaden replied.

“I will.” Jonathan replied.

When Jaden responded with a little smirk, Jonathan growled out a warning and Jaden took off at a run, laughing when Jonathan gave chase. He let himself be caught when he got to the bedroom and laughed as Jonathan threw him onto the bed and then lowered himself down on top of him.

“You have a lot of teasing to make up, Omega.” Jonathan growled down at him.

“What can I do to make up for it, Alpha?” Jaden smirked, his followup remark swallowed by Jonathan capturing his lips and kissing him like his life depended on it.

An hour later, Patrick got back and followed the scent of his mate and Jonathan, only to get growled at by the other Alpha when he tried to enter the room, backing away from the door and shaking his head at Jaden’s amused laughter. He sighed and resigned himself to spending the evening alone. After all, the stuff with the three of them was great, but he and Jonathan needed the one-on-one time with Jaden and the Omega had been making Jonathan suffer for three days. Patrick could handle the night. Maybe he should have shut the door though because he could smell and hear them and his hand was not nearly as satisfying as Jaden.

The summer passed too quickly, but they couldn’t be too sad about it. They got to spend most of it together and he and Jonathan returned to Chicago with ring from Jaden and returned their Omega to St. Louis with two obvious Claiming Marks. 

Jaden had never anticipated enjoying the proof that he was Claimed, he had anticipated resenting the Marks, but he wore them with almost as much pride as he wore The Note. Almost. He may love them, but he loved the team, the Lou and the Note more. And he knew that they knew that and they knew to never forget it.


End file.
